SpaceX IPO

This planned IPO for SpaceX is so bizarre.  Wealthy investors and the investment banking firms are losing their minds about it.  Its so valuable! Elon is letting us in on his world! Its all excitement (wrapped up in a silly amount of hype).

For the average investor, there's nothing to see here.  We can't feed at this trough.

And there's the matter of "going public" via an IPO.  It would seem that any rules the SEC has, and applicable laws are being bent or outright abused.

He's selling a small percentage of shares, and will keep the rest for himself.

As far as I can tell, Musk will still "own" the company, and there is no immediate plan to establish a board of directors. So in most ways this is a fundraiser and not making his company publicly traded.

And then there's this "plan" to merge SpaceX and Tesla as one company.  He is the CEO of Tesla - not a single owner.  He would have to get board and then shareholder approval for such a move (and he may follow that rule in the long run), but its weird that he just says its what he wants to do without proper filings and whatnot.  And without a board or significant shareholders in SpaceX, how would this be done?  It will be publicly traded and would have to go through some disclosure and due diligence process I would think.

And honestly, in a more normal world where he wasn't a "part of government," this would probably get flagged and not be allowed.  Yet, here we are.

Oh and there's the small matter of the company valuation.  He pegged a number, and what has come back since is less than half that value.  

And it would seem that SpaceX is "probably" doing no better than breaking even on their space ventures (that's expensive!).  Rideshares to space and starlink are income, but it seems just enough to keep the company afloat.  Whether that has value to investors remains to be seen.

Trains in Switzerland Are Now Running Over Solar Panels in a First-of-Its-Kind Test

Using train tracks for solar collection is a novel idea, with some merit. 

I mean, many tracks are in direct sunlight and they remain clear most of the time. 

https://www.zmescience.com/science/news-science/solar-panels-over-train-tracks-switzerland/

Scientists lose critical climate record as ocean observatory will go dark under Trump funding cuts

Fuck me….

https://phys.org/news/2026-06-scientists-critical-climate-ocean-observatory.html

3 Teens Win Global Earth Prize for Inventing Tamarind Powder That Easily Removes Microplastics

Nicely done! These teens came up with a tamarind based product that can added to water; a little agitation and the powder combines with microplastics and clumps. This clump can be removed with a magnet. 

That’s crazy. But is another example of how we can do better! 

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/3-teens-win-global-earth-prize-for-inventing-tamarind-powder-that-easily-removes-microplastics/

Watch "INSIDE Disney’s Groundbreaking Robotic Marble Sculpting | Grumpy's Gauntlet" on YouTube

This is an unexpected innovation that Disney has created. They have developed a robot that can take a 3D image and sculpt it from a stone block. 

What once came from a chisel and perseverance from a sculptor, can now be accomplished fairly easily by nearly anyone with an artistic eye. 

https://youtu.be/khNXWahOa1Y?si=om7lQYyrm1nOKdj1

While the world fights over oil, China just flew a 7.5-ton unmanned cargo plane powered by a megawatt-class hydrogen turboprop, climbing to 984 feet, covering 22.4 miles at 137 mph, and landing 16 minutes later with the engine running smoothly the whole way

Hydrogen powered, very large, unmanned …. Wow, that’s a lot to take in.  But it shows that there are opportunities to move away from our oil dependence. 

https://www.ecoticias.com/en/while-the-world-fights-over-oil-china-just-flew-a-7-5-ton-unmanned-cargo-plane-powered-by-a-megawatt-class-hydrogen-turboprop-climbing-to-984-feet-covering-22-4-miles-at-137-mph-and-landing-16-min/32807/

The downside of "reducing taxes"

Most states that lean conservative, have these weird plans to cut taxes!  Florida is no exception, with lots of moves designed to "help the average individual" - though we all know that these types of things disproportionately  benefit the wealthy among us.  And I just read about yet another push to eliminate property taxes in my fair state.  Because #FreeDumb

The obvious problem is that counties and cities have less in the way of capital that they can spend on infrastructure, services (including emergency type things), and even schools.

To combat that loss of revenue, there are many communities around Florida that are finding new ways to take in money from residents.  Among them are automated cameras around school busses, in school zones, and now in construction sites.  They use radar detection to measure speed, and read the tag on the car.  They then issue a citation to the owner of that car for an amount.  Its not a ticket, per se, and it comes off as a kind of a tax.

There are so many issues with this setup, but the biggest concern is about enforcement.  Take school zones, for example.  The system operates on school days for a period of time (I think its around 30 minutes) *before* the stated school zone time, and around 30 minutes *after* the stated school zone time, it will generate these citations if a driver is 10 miles an hour over the 15 MPH school zone.  And during the rest of the time, it will generate a citation if you are 10 miles an hour over the regular pasted speed limit for non-school times.  

School zones here all have a flashing warning light to let you know that you're in a school zone, but they go on during the hours posted - not in the 30 mins before and after.  So they are utterly meaningless.

Oh, and don't miss the fact that some communities don't follow this rule, and simply issue citations if you're going over 25MPH during the school day.  Full stop. Even though the signage indicates otherwise.

Its a mess, but has generated millions for these communities!  

So thanks Florida legislature for trying to make the tax less of a burden, while allowing for these silly loopholes that allow communities to make up their own rules for "taxation" - without the need to have anyone present (don't we have a constitutional right to know our accusers?!) and a complete inability to fight against this.